Lü Liuliang
Encyclopedia
Lü Liuliang was a Han Chinese
from Tongxiang
in Zhejiang
province. He was born under the Ming Dynasty
but died under the Manchu
-led Qing
.
Poet and author of many books, Lü took active part in the anti-Manchu military movement that followed the fall of the Ming in 1644. After the failure of the Ming loyalist movement
, he became a hermit and a physician. He refused to serve the new dynasty because he argued that upholding the difference between "Hua
" and "barbarians" was more important than respecting the righteous bond between minister and sovereign.
Lü Liuliang wrote a famous anti-Qing
poem. "The light breeze, however delicate, does not blow on me; the bright moon has never stopped casting its light on folks." (清風雖細難吹我，明月何嘗不照人?) In this poem, the "light breeze" (qing feng 清風) contains the character for "Qing" (as in the dynasty), and "bright moon" (ming yue 明月) the character for "Ming."
Han Chinese
Han Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...
from Tongxiang
Tongxiang
Tongxiang City is a county-level city, part of Jiaxing , in northern Zhejiang Province, China. Population : 109,976.The scenic town of Wuzhen is part of Tongxiang....
in Zhejiang
Zhejiang
Zhejiang is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. The word Zhejiang was the old name of the Qiantang River, which passes through Hangzhou, the provincial capital...
province. He was born under the Ming Dynasty
Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
but died under the Manchu
Manchu
The Manchu people or Man are an ethnic minority of China who originated in Manchuria . During their rise in the 17th century, with the help of the Ming dynasty rebels , they came to power in China and founded the Qing Dynasty, which ruled China until the Xinhai Revolution of 1911, which...
-led Qing
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
.
Poet and author of many books, Lü took active part in the anti-Manchu military movement that followed the fall of the Ming in 1644. After the failure of the Ming loyalist movement
Southern Ming Dynasty
The Southern Ming Dynasty was the Ming loyalist regime that continued in Southern China from 1644 to 1662 following the capture of Beijing by rebel armies and the death of the last Ming emperor in 1644....
, he became a hermit and a physician. He refused to serve the new dynasty because he argued that upholding the difference between "Hua
Huaxia
Huaxia is a name often used to represent China or Chinese civilization.-Etymology:According to the historical record, Zuo Zhuan, the ancient Xia Dynasty of central China was a state that held propriety and justice in high esteem...
" and "barbarians" was more important than respecting the righteous bond between minister and sovereign.
Lü Liuliang wrote a famous anti-Qing
Anti-Qing sentiment
thumb|[[Sun Yat-sen]], one of the leaders of the [[Xinhai Revolution]] which overthrew the Qing dynasty in 1912. Photo taken in 1907Anti-Qing sentiment refers to a sentiment principally held in China against the Manchu ruling during Qing Dynasty , which was often resented for being foreign and...
poem. "The light breeze, however delicate, does not blow on me; the bright moon has never stopped casting its light on folks." (清風雖細難吹我，明月何嘗不照人?) In this poem, the "light breeze" (qing feng 清風) contains the character for "Qing" (as in the dynasty), and "bright moon" (ming yue 明月) the character for "Ming."
Further reading
- Treason by the BookTreason by the BookTreason by the Book, by Jonathan Spence is a fast-paced historical account of the Zeng Jing case which took place during the reign of Emperor Yongzheng of China, around the 1730s...
, by Jonathan SpenceJonathan SpenceJonathan D. Spence is a British-born historian and public intellectual specializing in Chinese history. He was Sterling Professor of History at Yale University from 1993 to 2008. His most famous book is The Search for Modern China, which has become one of the standard texts on the last several...
. - A Translucent Mirror, by Pamela Kyle CrossleyPamela Kyle CrossleyPamela Kyle Crossley is an historian of modern China, northern Asia, and global history. She is author of The Wobbling Pivot: China since 1800: An Interpretive History , as well as influential studies of the Qing dynasty and leading textbooks in global history...
.